I'm a Runner: Kit Hoover

Hoover has cohosted Access Hollywood Live since 2010.

It's so nice to make that time for yourself.You know what? I think every mom [should run], if they can carve it out, but most of my friends are like, "We don't have time." You can always find time if you want to. You can wake up before the kids get up, which is what I used to do. Once you do it, too, it just becomes so addicting.

What about those days when they wake up in the middle of the night or super early?Once you are up and doing it, you always love it. But I totally get that those days are harder, especially for me because sometimes I'll be up all night with the kids if they are sick, and then I have to get up at 4:30 to get ready for work for the live show, so sometimes you are exhausted. You can shorten your run or whatever, but you never feel worse once you've completed it. It always gives you a little more energy. You feel better.

Where did you go to college?I went to the University of North Carolina and I ran cross-country and indoor and outdoor track. So it was year-round, which was a little much for me, so I did it just for my freshman and sophomore years, and I think my junior year, too. And then, by the middle of my junior year, I just kind of wanted to drink more beer and not have to work out. It was great, though. It was great to go to college for running because it was my identity. It was what I knew. So to get to college and to have that, it was such a great safety net. And I still keep in touch with the girls that I ran with. It was really fun.

Were you on scholarship for running?Yes, that was really nice. My brother ran for the University of Florida, which was insane with the heat down there. It was neat to run in college. The problem was that by my junior year, it felt more like a job, having to travel every weekend and all of that. But definitely for a couple of years it was a lot of fun.

Your dad must have been so proud of you.You know what's neat is that still today—we had a joke when we were younger, we'd always equate everything to like a 10-K and were like, now we have to beat our age. I'm 41. My dad is 75 and my dad just biked and ran across the United States at 75! So now for a 10-K, I am like, "Did you beat your age, Dad? C'mon!" And he'll be like, "Did you beat yours?" And I'm like, "Not so much!"

I feel so lazy!My family is very active. It's funny.

That must be so inspiring for you.It's great because that's just how we grew up, so it doesn't even seem weird that he does that. My family just has always been active, so when you are brought up that way, it continues on, and I hope that my kids are the same way.

Do you run alone?Yes, I like to run alone. I don't like to talk to people when I run. Well, it depends. Like in college, I liked running with people, but now, as a busy mom of three, it's my time. I prefer to run by myself now. It's my religion. It's my church, you know?

How was England for the royal wedding?Oh, that was great. The royal wedding was amazing. And one of my favorite runs was in Hyde Park with my cohost Billy Bush, my boss, and one of my producers. It was so fun. It was three boys and me. I think we ran four times, and talk about seeing neat things. You really could see the flavor of London on a run rather than driving in a taxi. We would run around Hyde Park, Westminster Abbey. You could just feel the excitement. The energy over there was amazing.

How was Billy Bush running? Was he chatty?In London, I wouldn't have enjoyed running by myself. Any new place, it's fun to run with people because you are noticing things, so he was so fun to run with. He kept me laughing and it was fun. It was a fun way, too, for my boss to debrief everything. We had a great little five-mile loop that we mapped out, and those gardens over there in the park are amazing. Hyde Park is filled with great people, great flowers. There were flags everywhere, and it was just very jovial to run around. People would cheer and yell. You felt the excitement, and that was the week leading up to the wedding.

That's so great to run there.Absolutely. I think we might have been the only news crew to run together, so that was really cool.

I love that you had meetings while running.Yes, the meetings! Get it going. That was really fun. Running was our debriefings, our laughing. It was great. We definitely went out at night for big dinners, so it was good.

What is the best running advice you have received?The best running advice is that if you can get your body to a point where you don't hurt on your runs and it's just sort of your time, that's great. My best race advice depends on what distance the race, but it's to drop your shoulders so that you are breathing and just kind of Zen-out and enjoy.